From the beginning, everyone underestimated Donald Trump. He pulled off a surprising victory after the most unprecedented of presidential campaigns. Trump’s very election broke a set of barriers, becoming the first billionaire president and the first to have never before served in public office or the military. And while his business familiarity was a means part of his plea to a broad swath of Americans, they will also hoist unprecedented questions of clash of interest and could pose challenges to his aptitude to sell governmental proposals that could affect his personal bottom line.

Trump channeled the fury of average Americans against Washington. He tapped into their anxiety about the present and the fear of the future. He spoke to the pain they felt about working hard and getting left behind.

Hillary Clinton just couldn’t hold onto the Obama coalition. And that proved to be a large part of her undoing.

African-American, Latino and younger voters failed to show up at the polls in adequate numbers Tuesday to propel Clinton into the White House.

Clinton conceded the race after 2 a.m. ET. Before polls closed her campaign had been confident of victory. In the end, however, she lost even some states thought to be safely in her column, like Wisconsin. She trailed in others, like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

While she won the key demographic groups her campaign targeted, she underperformed President Obama across the board, even among women, according to exit poll data.

Information Summary

The United States presidential election of 2016 was the 58th quadrennial American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine. Trump is scheduled to take office as the 45th President, and Pence as the 48th Vice President, on January 20, 2017.

In the Electoral College vote on December 19, seven electors voted against their pledged candidates: two against Trump and five against Clinton. A extra three electors attempted to vote against Clinton but were replaced or forced to vote again. Ultimately, Trump received 304 electoral votes and Clinton garnered 227, while Colin Powell won three, and John Kasich, Ron Paul, Bernie Sanders, and Faith Spotted Eagle each received one.

Trump will be the fifth person in U.S. history to become president despite losing the nationwide popular vote. He will be the first president without any prior experience in public service, while Clinton was the first woman to be the presidential nominee of a foremost American party.

Results

Trump wins

Republican Donald Trump is elected US president, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton. His victory came after key wins in the battleground states of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Donald J. Trump won the Electoral College with 304 votes compared to 227 votes for Hillary Clinton. Seven electors voted for someone other than their party’s candidate.

Election Results

The election was held on November 8, 2016. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton cast her vote in the New York City suburb of Chappaqua, while Republican candidate Donald Trump voted in a Manhattan public school. Throughout the day, the election procedure went more slickly than many had expected, with only a few reports of long lines and equipment problems.

The Republican candidate performed surprisingly well in all battleground states, particularly Florida, Ohio and North Carolina. Even Wisconsin and Michigan, states that were predicted to vote Democratic, were won by Trump. Cindy Adams, present at Trump Tower, reported that “Trumptown knew they’d won by 5:30. Math, calculations, candidate dislike causing voter abstention begat the numbers”.

On November 9, 2016, at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, Trump secured over 270 electoral votes, the majority of the 538 electors in the Electoral College, adequate to make him the president-elect of the United States. Clinton called Trump early on Wednesday morning, conceding defeat. Clinton asked her supporters to accept the result and hoped that Trump would be “a successful president for all Americans”. In his victory speech Trump appealed for unity saying “it is time for us to come together as one united people” and praised Clinton who was owed “a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country”.

Six states plus a portion of Maine that Obama won in 2012 switched to Trump. These are (with Electoral College votes in parentheses): Florida (29), Pennsylvania (20), Ohio (18), Michigan (16), Wisconsin (10), Iowa (6), and Maine’s second congressional district (1). Initially, Trump won exactly 100 more Electoral College votes than Mitt Romney in 2012, with two lost to faithless electors the following month. Thirty-nine states swung more Republican compared to the previous Presidential election, while eleven states and the District of Columbia swung more Democratic.

It is estimated that 138.9 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016. 65.8 million Of those ballots have been counted for Clinton and just fewer than 63 million for Trump, representing 20.3% (Clinton) and 19.4% (Trump) of the U.S. Census Bureau estimate of U.S. population that day of 324.9 million. Considering a voting age population (VAP) of 251.1 million people and voting eligible population (VEP) of 231.6 million people, this is a turnout rate of 55.3% VAP and 60.0% VEP. Voting turnout percentage was up compared to 2012 (54.9% VAP) but down compared to 2008 (58.2% VAP). More votes were cast in the 2016 election than any prior election due to an increase in the voting population.